


Dating, Dragons, and Disasters

by fifty_fifty



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Blow Jobs, Dragons, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hand Jobs, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Idiots in Love, Jealous Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M, Misunderstandings, Modern Era, Mutual Pining, Parenting (of a sort), Pining, Pining Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Roommates, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:02:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22235281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifty_fifty/pseuds/fifty_fifty
Summary: A secret sorcerer with a newborn dragon, and his pining roommate. What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 683
Collections: Camelot Drabble -- Holiday Exchange Fest 2019





	Dating, Dragons, and Disasters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SlantedKnitting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlantedKnitting/gifts).



> Thank you again to the mods for running this fest, it’s always so much fun to participate in. Thanks also to my beta and a few friends who helped cheer me along with this fic. Sknits, I really hope that this is okay and somewhere along the lines of what you wanted and that I didn’t do any of your dislikes by mistake, I tried my best, but the boys and my ideas don’t always behave themselves. I hope you have a magical holiday season!

“Let it be noted for the record,” says Merlin down the phone, “that this whole thing is entirely _your_ fault.”

He gazes in dismay at the tiny little, rather adorable white dragon sitting amongst the remains of their shell smack bang in the middle of his bed.

“That egg has been dormant for centuries, Merlin. I didn’t think that it would chose _now_ of all times to hatch. We weren’t even completely certain that it was alive at all. Until now that is. I was sworn to protect and watch over the egg, as I have done my entire lifetime. If I had known, of course, I would have been there with you. But we can hardly help things now, can we?”

“You need to come home, Gaius. There’s no way I can have a _dragon_ in the flat. Our lease specifically says no pets allowed!”

“It will just be for another week, Merlin. I’m sure that you can manage and I’m certain your landlord wouldn’t mind if it’s just for a short while. Just tell them that your mother is sick and you’re looking after her cat. No one need be the wiser. But baby dragons do need a lot of care. So you will need to make sure that it’s fed several times a day, with steak, if possible. If not, butchers bones, chickens, that sort of thing should be fine. Oh, and you ought to get the poor thing outside at least twice a day so that it can stretch its wings and get some fresh air—”

“Woah, woah. Slow down. I haven’t agreed to any of this. I can’t do any of that. I have exams to study for. Uncle Gaius, you need to come home!”

“That’s quite impossible, I’m afraid, my boy. We are about to enter a part of the tomb which has never been seen before. I will be quite out of reach of civilisation. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn more about our magical history. Besides, Geoffery will slaughter me if I leave him alone. You know how he likes company. You will do fine, Merlin. It’s in your blood. Your father was a dragonlord, which is why the egg was entrusted to me until you came of age. Oh. Hmm. I wonder if that might be why…”

“Why what?” asks Merlin anxiously.

“Nothing, nothing,” says Gaius breezily. “Now I’m terribly sorry, Merlin. But I must go—”

“Can’t you call someone else to come and get the dragon?”

“Quite impossible. Once a dragon egg hatches, the dragon must stay with their owner until they are able to fly the nest, so to speak.”

“But I’m not its owner,” Merlin protests.

The dragon looks up at him and trills a happy noise.

“That sound begs to differ. If someone came to get the dragon now, he, or she, would undoubtedly find a way to return back to you. Dragons are like birds, in that way, they imprint upon the first creature they see as a way to cement the bond between the mother and offspring.”

“But I’m not its mother!”

The dragon flutters its tiny wings and chirps loudly, as a tendril of smoke curls from its nostrils.

There is a loud clattering noise at the other end of the phone. “Oh bother,” says Gaius. “Look Merlin, I’m sorry, I have to go, Geoffrey has upset my experiment. I’ll be back in a just over a week, the time will fly by. I have every faith in you.”

“But Gaius—”

“Bye, Merlin!”

The line goes dead and Merlin lets the phone fall from his hand to the bed with a sigh. He’s a uni student who can barely manage to take care of himself. How on earth is he going to take care of a _dragon_ —a newborn one at that—for almost two weeks?

***

The first night with the dragon has been fairly uneventful. It’s rather like having a kitten, Merlin muses to himself, as the little creature curls up against him and makes a purring sound in its sleep. He almost feels fond of it. In the morning, he’s going to have to head out and get some food for the poor thing. Whatever mistakes have been made, it still needs to eat. It isn’t the dragon’s fault that they had hatched under his care. He wishes fiercely, not for the first time, that his father was still alive. He would know what to do. His father had known all about dragons. And so had his father before him. Merlin had grown up in Wales, rather further afield than the icy snow covered mountains in Romania where his father had worked. The last dragon had left the United Kingdom back in the eighties now, the country having become too busy and too populated for it to hide. His father had been instrumental in getting the dragon relocated, though he had died in a rather nasty accident a short while later.

If his father were alive, Merlin would be able to hand it over to him and just get on with things. But as he isn’t and as Gaius has stubbornly refused to return and help him, it’s up to Merlin to take care of it. 

First things first, he ought to name it. As he lays in his bed he murmurs to the dragon, “What should I call you?”

He closes his eyes and thinks. The dragon nudges at his hand with its snout and he smiles, an indescribable warmth fills his belly and a word just filts into his head, almost instinctively.

“Aithusa…” Merlin muses out loud. The dragon trills again and leaps on top of him. “You like that huh?” he asks, as he rubs the dragon’s head. “Aithusa it is.”

***

“Merlin,” says Arthur, suspiciously, the next morning. “Why is there several pounds of steak and mince in the fridge and chicken in the freezer?”

“Oh,” says Merlin, feeling panicked. He’d forgotten he would have to explain that to Arthur. “I, um, I just fancied it.”

Arthur raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. “But you’re a vegetarian, practically vegan even. And you always wrinkle your nose at raw meat.”

Merlin shrugs. “Just felt like a change.”

“After being a vegetarian since you were twelve?”

“It’s a free country. Anyway, don’t you have a maths lecture in ten minutes?” Merlin points out, hoping to distract him.

“Oh shit!” exclaims Arthur.

Merlin has to go out soon himself to give a piano lesson to children at a local school, as he always does on Friday mornings. He tip-toes into his room, hoping not to wake the sleeping dragon he’d left inside. But to no avail, Aithusa is wide-awake.

“Hey there, little one,” he says kindly as the dragon totters up to him on all fours. Merlin picks him up in his arms and tickles his belly. “Now I have to go out for a bit, okay? So I need you to be good. But I promise, I will be as quick as I can. I’ll be back in no time.” Aithusa sniffs in the direction of the kitchen. “Ah yes, breakfast. You stay here. I’ll bring you something, okay?”

A few minutes later, Merlin returns with a raw steak on a plate. He isn’t sure how he’s supposed to prepare it. Is he supposed to cook it? Maybe. But unlike humans, most other meat-eaters in the wild eat their meat raw. Plus he knows that a raw diet is best for dogs. Should he cut it up into smaller pieces so that Aithusa doesn’t choke on it? He wishes Gaius had given him clearer instructions. It’s the least he could have done before abandoning Merlin to his new parental fate.

He places the plate on the ground and Aithusa pounces on it, devouring it in seconds. Well, that answers that question. Merlin pats Aithusa on the head. “Be back soon. Be good, okay?”

***

Merlin turns the key in the lock and as he opens the door he almost drops his keys in shock at the sight that beholds him.

The entire place looks as though it has been ransacked. Cushions and chairs overturned. Curtains singed and ripped from the walls. The kitchen cupboards scorched…

And a little dragon sitting in front of an open, but empty, fridge looking rather sorry for himself.

“Aithusa!” Merlin hisses, closing the door behind himself and hurrying inside. “What have you done?”

Merlin looks at his watch. Fuck. Arthur is going to be back any minute. He uses his magic to lock the door and then hurries to pick up the curtains.

 _“Fordwin wamm,”_ he whispers, forcing his magic into the fabric to repair the singed areas. He picks up an overturned chair and stands on it to rehang the curtains. He hums for a moment as he tries to figure out how to rehang the rail before deciding that time is too tight to find a screwdriver. He’ll have to cheat with magic.

Merlin speeds around the room hurrying to put everything to rights with a mixture of magic and elbow grease.

“Now, you _must_ stay put. Only in my room, okay? In here, yes. Out there, no,” he tells the dragon gesturing to the different areas and hoping that Aithusa understands. The little dragon yawns and clambers up onto Merlin’s bed, curling the duvet up around itself like a nest to take a nap.

Merlin breathes a sigh of relief and jumps as he closes his door, realising Arthur has returned home.

“What happened here?” Arthur asks.

Pressing up against his bedroom door, Merlin does his best to look innocent. “What? Nothing. Nothing,” he insists.

Arthur narrows his eyes at him. “There’s _something_ going on all right, what with the meat in the fridge, the place being spotless… But if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I’m only your closest friend.”

***

Arthur huffs as he throws himself down on his bed. Merlin is acting awfully suspicious lately. Well, he often acts strangely, that’s nothing new. But he’s acting even more so recently. Why on earth has he suddenly started buying meat and cleaning up the flat? It’s almost as though he’s trying to impress someone… 

Suddenly Arthur recalls with perfect clarity the way that Merlin had been pressed up against his bedroom door, as though he was guarding it for some reason. Why is he acting so edgy all of a sudden? Arthur wishes that he could figure it all out, but he’s still missing too many of the pieces to get a clear picture of what might be happening.

He sighs and sits up to fluff his pillow before laying down again. He doesn’t like when Merlin acts like this. When he starts to keep secrets from him. They’re friends, aren’t they? Sure, Arthur’s intentions towards Merlin aren’t always completely honourable... but he does his best not to let the fact that he has the world’s hugest crush on his roommate and best friend influence his behaviour around him. He saves the release of most of his emotions to one of two places; the gym, or the privacy of his own bedroom.

In the room next to him, he can’t help from hearing a series of rather bewildering noises. There is a creaking sound of the bed moving. Almost rhythmically. And laughter and low voices. Arthur groans and covers his ears with a pillow as he realises with startling embarrassment what he’s listening to.

So that’s what Merlin has been hiding from him. He has a boyfriend. Arthur wonders why Merlin has bothered hiding him. Has Merlin been worried that Arthur wouldn’t approve of said boyfriend (he wouldn’t privately, no one is good enough for Merlin. But publically, Arthur would nobly refrain from saying anything)? Is the boyfriend ugly? Is it someone that Merlin isn’t supposed to be dating, like a lecturer? Hopefully, if he plays along and pretends that he hasn’t noticed anything amiss with Merlin and his (more-so than usual) peculiar behaviour Merlin will slip up or let his guard down and Arthur will finally get to meet this mystery man. Merlin certainly must think him pretty special. Especially to have bought meat for him. Maybe Merlin is planning on making a romantic meal. Arthur will make very loud plans to go out on the lash tomorrow night with his footie mates. That way, he’ll clear the way for Merlin and his boyfriend. Lull them into a false sense of security. It’s very tempting to set a trap and come home early to catch them out. But these sorts of things are better played as a long game. No, he’ll go out, come home late, as Merlin would expect, maybe for a few nights in a row, then Merlin and his boyfriend will start to become complacent.

That’s when he’ll catch them out and work out why Merlin has been so cagey about him. 

As Arthur continues to cover his ears, he reaches out for his bluetooth headphones on his bedside table and starts to play some music on his phone. He’s tolerant of Merlin dating someone else, to a certain extent—ideally he’d have liked it to be him—but having to listen to him have sex with another guy is a step too far and something he hadn’t considered when they agreed a few months back to share a flat. 

He isn’t a vindictive person usually. But Arthur would be lying if he says he isn’t considering how he might be able to sabotage things somehow.

***

The next morning, at breakfast, Merlin appears in the kitchen looking tired and haggard. Arthur is glad that he’d fallen asleep with his headphones on. Goodness knows how long Merlin and his beau had been going at it last night. Wondering about it is at least better than having actual confirmation of it.

“Sleep well?” Arthur asks innocently.

“Not particularly,” grumbles Merlin, sitting down gingerly at the table. “Make me a coffee won’t you?”

It’s on the tip of Arthur’s tongue to tell Merlin to make his boyfriend make him coffee. But he doesn’t want to show his hand too soon, so he holds his tongue instead.

“Sure,” he says, throwing a few scoops into the espresso machine before tamping it down and pressing start. Merlin claims that the machine is too complicated for him. But Arthur sees right through him and knows it’s just because he’s a lazy sod who wants Arthur to make his coffee for him. Arthur isn’t sure why he indulges Merlin in this charade, but he does. And evidently, it’s going to continue, despite Merlin dating someone else.

“Any plans for today?” Arthur asks him. He opens the fridge and frowns at the sparseness. “Did you throw out everything in the fridge?”

“Oh. Um. Yeah, sorry. I got a bit carried away. I got you some milk though, and that butter you like.”

“Yeah, that really makes up for all the rest of it. Cheers, Merlin,” Arthur says with a roll of his eyes. He grabs the soya and cows milk. At least Merlin has the good sense to replace the milk. And get more meat, by the looks of it.

Once Merlin has drank his coffee, he disappears off to his room. Only to reappear five minutes later with a new backpack. Arthur knows it’s new because he’s been friends long enough with Merlin to have catalogued all of his wardrobe and that backpack is a recent addition. It’s also rather full-looking.

Arthur shrugs to himself as Merlin grabs a piece of toast off his plate. The piece he has specifically set aside with no butter for him. He so badly wants to ask Merlin where he’s off to, but if Merlin doesn’t want to tell him what he’s up to, then Arthur isn’t going to pry. Maybe he’s going to stay at his boyfriend’s for a few days.

***

As he closes the door behind him, Merlin breathes a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Aithusa has been so well-behaved in his backpack. The last thing he needs is Arthur getting clued in on the fact that he has a dragon in the house. Because Merlin is not ready to explain the existence of magic and dragons to Arthur who has a hard time believing in anything the least bit extraordinary. 

It’s been a tough week, but Aithusa is finally getting used to his surroundings and the boundaries Merlin is setting for him, and he’s finally (mostly) sleeping through the night, though Merlin lives in fear of there being another fire in his room like there had been on Wednesday night (Merlin had fobbed Arthur off by telling him that he had burnt some toast). So far, he thinks that he’s been dealing with the responsibility of having a baby dragon pretty well. Of course, Aithusa has developed a habit of taking anything shiny for his hoard… which is starting to be a bit of a problem. But Merlin will take that over loud unexplainable noises and spontaneous fires to put out. He’s also decided that he likes _Arthur’s_ things. Over the past few days Merlin has noticed an increasing pile of Arthur’s socks and other random clothing appear in his nest in the corner of Merlin’s room. Merlin’s not sure what that’s all about, but there’s no way he can get them back without Aithusa biting him, which he discovered the hard way. So he’s decided that it’s just easier to let him have them and lie about it when Arthur asks if Merlin has seen his favourite shirt, tie, pajamas, socks… At least he hasn’t asked about the underwear.

Still, it’s not been all bad… Aithusa is kind of sweet and good company when he behaves himself, and they had a little bit of time last night to relax together and not worry about Arthur finding out, when Arthur went out with Leon and his other football buddies. Aithusa always seems happier when he has free roaming of the flat, rather than being confined to Merlin’s room. But his favourite place is the woods near the university where Merlin has been taking him in the mornings and evening each day like Gaius recommended. It certainly seems like a more natural home for Aithusa. But he still seems too little and vulnerable and lacking in instinct to be out on his own. 

How long do dragons need to grow and mature? Merlin hasn’t got the slightest idea. So for now, he does his best to keep Aithusa safe. Because the last thing that Merlin wants is for the dragon to be caught and poked and prodded and tested, all because he was too eager to get Aithusa out of his flat. Merlin wouldn’t even mind having Aithusa around for the foreseeable future—until he’s too big, of course—if it weren’t for the fact that he has to lie to Arthur about it. The lies have been weighing on Merlin something terrible and he’s not sure how much longer he can bear to do it. Arthur doesn’t deserve it at all.

There’s the sound of keys in the door and Merlin hisses to Aithusa, “Quick, in my room!”

They both scurry into Merlin’s room, only just closing the door in time before Arthur comes into the flat. As he lays on his bed. Merlin can hear Arthur’s footsteps inside the flat getting closer and closer to his room. He holds his breath.

The door is flung wide open as Arthur brandishes his new backpack in one hand and his other is still on the door knob. “Merlin!” he begins loudly, “why is there a _hole_ in my…” He trails off. His eyes widening as he looks at the corner of the room. 

Merlin cringes as he followed Arthur’s gaze where a little white dragon is sitting proudly on his hoard of shiny things and a variety of Arthur’s clothing.

“I can explain,” says Merlin.

Just as Arthur says, “Is that my shirt?”

Then, much to Merlin’s confusion, he starts laughing uncontrollably. Tipping his head back and abandoning his backpack to the floor. Merlin gets up and walks over to him. 

“Arthur” he asks with concern. “Are you okay?”

“I—I—” begins Arthur, as his peals of laughter subside. He wipes the tears from his eyes and begins again. “I thought that you were hiding a _boyfriend_ from me. Not a—a—”

“Dragon,” Merlin supplies helpfully.

“A dragon!” Arthur exclaims. “Thank God it’s a dragon!” He takes Merlin’s face in his hands and plants a kiss on his lips. “It’s only a dragon!”

Merlin touches his fingers to his lips, looking even more adorably confused than ever with his wide eyes and ruffled hair. “A—Arthur?” Merlin asks. “Why is it good that it’s a dragon?” 

Arthur swallows. It’s now or never. Either he takes a chance and goes for it, or he lets Merlin slip through his fingers forever. 

“Because,” he says, his voice husky. “If it was a boyfriend, I couldn’t do this again.”

Arthur cups Merlin’s chin and slides an arm around his waist to pull him close. He stares into Merlin’s extremely blue eyes for any sign of unwillingness, his eyes straying against his will to take in Merlin’s full, plush lips, before he dips his head and kisses him softly again.

Closing his eyes, Arthur feels Merlin melt into the kiss, responding eagerly to him. Arthur feels his heart soar. He’s actually done it. He’s actually made a move for Merlin, and Merlin hasn’t rejected him. All the fears and worries he has about ruining things fall away as it just feels so _right_.

As they slowly pull away, Arthur smiles contentedly. “I hope that was okay?” he asks.

Merlin doesn’t even reply. He reels Arthur in again, fisting his shirt to pull him close, his other hand twisting in Arthur’s hair, tugging gently as Arthur opens up to Merlin’s eager probing tongue. And as they kiss, Arthur wonders why he hasn’t been braver sooner. Why hasn’t he just walked up to Merlin, laid one on him and been having this all along? Because Merlin is a great kisser and Arthur has been dreaming of this moment for longer than he can remember. Merlin’s hands slip under Arthur’s shirt and he pulls more insistently at the fabric, hands fumbling at the buttons.

Arthur pushes his hands away and reaches behind him to open the door, walking Merlin out of his room. “Not in here,” he murmurs between kisses. 

Before he knows it, Merlin has him backed up against the sofa and he falls back onto it with an oof. Merlin is in his lap in an instant.

“For full disclosure,” says Merlin, panting a little as he breaks away from a particularly intense and involved kiss. “I have magic and I’m raising a dragon.”

“Okay. Fine with me,” says Arthur, who honestly would agree with pretty much anything right at that moment with Merlin heavy in his lap and his talented fingers stripping off Arthur’s shirt.

“Waited so long for this,” gasps Merlin, who’s hauling his own t-shirt over his head and disregards it with a toss over his shoulder.

“Mmm, me too,” says Arthur, running his hands over Merlin’s smooth white skin, admiringly.

“We’re idiots!” exclaims Merlin, pulling Arthur close and kissing him again.

He pushes Arthur down on the sofa and starts to unbutton his jeans. Arthur looks up at him in surprise. This is all moving a little faster than anticipated.

“Merlin,” he says, wrapping a hand around one of Merlin’s slender wrists. “This is all a bit… Are you sure that you want to…?”

Merlin looks down at him, with a mixture of surprise and hurt. “You don’t want to—”

“Oh no, I want to,” Arthur hurries to reassure him. “I just wanted to make sure that this wasn’t all moving too fast for you. For us.”

“Arthur, we’ve known each other for years and I’ve fancied you for almost as long. If anything, we’ve been moving too slow. Besides, you know I never do anything I don’t want.”

“Good point,” Arthur agrees. “And what do mean, ‘almost as long’?”

Huffing out a laugh and then grinning, Merlin says, “Well, you are a bit of an arse. Took me a while to realise I was in love with you.”

“Why you little…” says Arthur, flipping them over so that he’s on top of Merlin and tickling him, so that Merlin squeals and wriggles underneath him. And then Merlin’s words finally hit him and he stops. “In love with me?”

Merlin flushes a delicious shade of red. “Well…” he backtracks. “Not exactly _in love_. I mean... I meant... That I—I fancy you.”

Arthur chuckles. “Oh no. No take backs. You already said it,” he crows.

“Shut up and kiss me again, before I change my mind,” Merlin tells him.

Heeding Merlin’s warning, Arthur dives straight back in for another kiss as his own hands find the zipper on Merlin’s jeans and he palms Merlin’s cock through his boxers. 

Groaning appreciatively, Merlin tips back his head, exposing all those lovely long lines of his neck and Arthur feels obliged to lick the length of them. He fists his hand through Merlin’s hair and tugs, causing Merlin to hiss and buck beneath him.

Merlin’s fingers scrape at the waistband of Arthur’s jeans as he tries to tug them down. Eventually, Arthur pauses in his assault of Merlin’s neck to help him, until they’re both down to boxers as they make out on the sofa; hands and mouths exploring new territories and making new discoveries. 

Arthur sits back on his heels as he eases the waistband of Merlin’s boxers over his hips, freeing his rather eager cock. Merlin looks up at him, his face flushed and hair a delightful mess, as he bites his lip before Arthur ducks his head and licks along the length of him.

“Oh yeah,” moans Merlin encouragingly; emboldened by this, Arthur slides his lips over the head of Merlin’s cock and sucks. “Ah, shit. Yes!” 

Arthur is glad Merlin is so vocal in his approval, though it’s hard to imagine that he would be any other way, given his tendency to speak out and make his feelings known on a matter. As he bobs his head, Arthur lets Merlin’s exclamations guide his actions as to what he likes, convinced that once he’s given him head a couple of times, he’ll be able to play him like a violin.

Merlin grips at Arthur’s shoulders as his hips buck, causing Arthur to choke and pull back a little before he dives in again, determined to give Merlin the best blowjob he’s ever had.

“Oh, fuck. Ah, ah. Yes, Arthur! Oh God… I—I—” Merlin tugs on Arthur’s hair as Arthur feels his cock throb, and Merlin cries out as he comes. Arthur swallows every drop and continues to suck him off until Merlin pushes his head away.

Palming his own cock through his own rather damp boxers, Arthur smiles in satisfaction at the look on Merlin’s face and congratulates himself on a job well done.

“Here,” murmurs Merlin, reaching out for him. “Let me help.”

Merlin presses a kiss to Arthur’s lips and pushes Arthur's boxers down to wrap his strong, slender fingers around Arthur’s dick. Arthur groans with sweet relief, it has been torture ignoring his own needs whilst tending to Merlin’s own. Now it’s time for his own release. He thrusts into Merlin’s hand, increasing the speed as he feels himself grow close. He knows he doesn’t need much, not after all their fun. And sure enough, with a few more thrusts, his vision goes white as he comes over Merlin’s hand and chest, then collapses on him, exhausted, but sated.

He smiles as Merlin strokes his hair, though he will absolutely categorically deny it if ever asked about it. And behind him he hears the happy trilling sound of a baby dragon, who is hopping around excitedly as it breathes out smokey tendrils.

Arthur looks over his shoulder and raises his eyebrows. “So, is the, uh—dragon—”

“Aithusa.”

“—Aithusa, is um, he? She…?” asks Arthur.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think he might be a boy? At least, it feels like he’s a boy. Hopefully Gaius will be able to tell when he gets back from holiday.”

“Gaius? Your old Uncle? Is that how this all happened?”

“It’s kind of a long story.”

Arthur sits up and pulls Merlin to sitting with him. “So, how long are we keeping him?”

“We?” asks Merlin with a grin.

“It’s our flat and now we have this thing going on… Makes sense that Aithusa will be our pet.”

Merlin grimaces a little at the drying mess on his chest and stomach. “We’d need to find a new flat then, no pets allowed here.”

“It will be worth it,” says Arthur, reeling Merlin in for a kiss. 

The dragon leaps up onto the sofa onto their laps and Arthur hurries to scramble away, calling over his shoulder, “Next time, we do it in my room!” 

“Agreed,” says Merlin as he hurries after him and enclosed in the privacy of Arthur’s bedroom, they proceed to get to know each other a bit better.


End file.
